93 Camry V6: HOT inside !

[jopki]

Hi, On my 93 Camry V6 with 3VZFE I am getting a small residual hot air through the heating ducts even if the heating controls are OFF, that is, my Blue/Red dial knob is at MAX Blue (left, there should be cool air)

It is becoming quite uncomfortable since even with the blower OFF, there is a residual heat getting out of the vents and AC works no more to offset that. I thought the water valve on the engine side of firewall does not close properly but I tried clamping the hose just before the water valve effectively closing the hot water going to the heater core and it makes no immediate difference! This would indicate to me that it is the air mix damper close to the heater core that does not fully close for some reason, not the water valve.

Does anybody know if the mechanism of opening/closing the air mix damper is done mechanically through a cable (like the water valve) or is this an electronic servo as it appears to be on Lexus ES300? (I have only documentation for a fancy Lexus, not my Camry!)

Has anybody experienced a similar problem? Any simple solutions? How is the accessibility of the Camry heater core / duct / controls?

Thanks for any insight you may have.
JE

[chronoti]

a small amount of water does pass through even if it is closed keeps the water from stagnating. i'll e-mail you the manual for this.